"Death is an enemy, it's not an employee, of God," Ben Reeves of the Sheridan Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses said of the late 16-year-old Kelly Walsh high School student Saturday.

"It does not do His bidding," Reeves said.

God wants us to live a vibrant, caring life like Rory's, he told more than 700 family members, fellow students and teachers, and the community at the high school during a celebration of her life.

Aurora, a member of the school’s dance team, died after a crash on westbound U.S. Highway 20/26 about 56 miles west of Casper on Feb. 4.

Aurora Rohrer

She was a passenger in a sport utility vehicle driven by another female teenager who tried to pass another westbound vehicle before a hillcrest in a no-passing zone. The driver of the SUV lost control on the slick road.

A pickup traveling east tried to steer away but hit the SUV. Aurora was taken to the Wyoming Medical Center in Casper where she died of her injuries.

Reeves said God comforts, encourages and cheers the depressed, and gives us hope.

"This hope is what fuels us, it's what gives us hope for the future," he said. "It's like really helps us to be grounded in times of tragedy like this, where you have a very difficult time trying to find meaning."

Hope, however, does not necessarily come without pain, Reeves said. For example, Jesus cried before he raised Lazarus from the dead, he said.

The Casper community has come together to honor, remember, mourn and celebrate the life of Aurora, Reeves said.

The best way to honor the memory of her 5,942 days on Earth is to let her life motivate ours, he said.

Our lives touch others, and this one person touched the lives of those at the school and in the community, Reeves said.

"Know that Jehovah God cares for us deeply, and He has set a hope in front of us as an anchor for our souls," he said. "Be thankful for every day of life. Yes, Aurora lived. Let's make her life meaningful to each one of us."